


Powers of the World

by Urbenmyth



Series: Tales Beyond The Archives [14]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Drabble, Sure death god but isn't the real monster capitalism?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:08:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27672473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Urbenmyth/pseuds/Urbenmyth
Summary: The End approaches, every step, every move.The only choice is what you do before it arrives.
Series: Tales Beyond The Archives [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1965088
Kudos: 11





	Powers of the World

Over his years of being Mr Sherington’s personal assistant, Sam had talked to countless terrible people. Liars, manipulations, traitors and worse. He was used to interacting with people both unpleasant and dangerous, and had no particular fear of them. He was, after all, acting on behalf of one of the richest and more powerful men in the world. He was protected.

But the woman sat in the lobby, idly touching the flower display, was different

It wasn’t that she seemed particularly aggressive or dangerous looking. Quite the opposite, in fact. People rarely met him without high stakes, and she seemed...apathetic. Not as an affected defense mechanism, but as a genuine opinion. She really didn’t care how wealthy and powerful the man she was meeting with was.

She sat there, unmoving as he held out his hand.

“So. Mrs Bauer, yes?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

A brief pause, before he realized she wasn’t going to elaborate. “Can you explain why you wanted to meet with Mr Sherington’s? He’s a very busy man, and we don’t have time to waste on just anybody.”

She leaned forward. “What do you do, Sam?”

He bristled. “That doesn’t answer my question.”

“No. What do you do?”

He looked down at this strange woman. Plainly dressed, skin blotchy and eyes sunken. When was the last time she’d slept? Fuck it, might as well humor her while he contacted security.

“As you would know if you belonged here, I sort out problems for…”

“You hurt people. You kill people.”

“What the fuck are you talking about? I’m not some kind of hitman. “

“I am. Of a sort. I kill people.”

It wasn’t said as a threat, or as a boast. Just a calm statement of fact. He didn’t doubt it for a second.

“ So do you, Sam.”

“I’ve never…”

“With poverty. With suicide. With pollution. Sometimes, with goons. I would know.”

Sam had enough of this activist infiltrator or whatever she is. He reached down to call for security.

“I wouldn’t do that sam.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to kill anyone I don’t have to”

Not bravado. It wasn’t bravado. He looked at her and how...certain she was. How inevitable. She was smaller than him, thinner, unarmed, and he somehow had no doubt that the security guards would not be an issue for her. He just knew it.

“Are you going to kill me?”

“Not if I don’t have to. I’m here to talk. What do you think of your boss, Sam.?”

“He’s been a kind employer…”

“To you. You’re useful. What do you think of your boss in general?”

Sam looked around, but he was finding it hard to move.

“He’s…”

“Ruthless, yes? Even among the wealthy, he’s got that reputation. Charming,  _ nice _ , but ruthless. Do you know how many people he’s had killed?”

He should lie, of course. He should give the standard spiel about how Mr Sherington and his corporate and political contacts were only ethical. He should say that.

“Yes.”

“How many did you kill for him?”

“None!”

“Directly, no. But how many did you kill for him?”

“...I don’t know.”

“A lot?”

“Yes.”

She laughed slightly, a soft noise, barely audible.

“I’ve killed 2013 people for my patron.”

“Jesus!”

“Why did you start working for him?”

“I...what is this?”

“I just want to chat. I’ll start. I was dying. There was no cure. And I was contacted. My...patron kept me alive. Saved me. All I needed to do was kill for them.”

“You mean… what, some kind of Criminal Medical Treatment thing?”

Another laugh.

“Something like that, I suppose. You?”

“I...look, I clawed my way up here! I started out from nothing, and I ended up in the graces of one of the most powerful people in the world!”

She nodded.

“Yes. You were fragile and vulnerable and desperate, so you jumped in bed with something powerful and evil. You did awful things until you gained his favor. And sometimes you can mistake being useful for being supported. Not so different to me. Tell me. Do you think he would kill you?”

“No! I’m…”

“Not at random, no. If you stopped being useful, though? If you showed a conscience? Would he kill you?”

“…”

“ My patron doesn’t care about me, either, If my service stopped, I would be cast aside without a thought. We both do terrible things, to pretend borrowed power is the same as being mighty. Don’t we?”

“Why are you here?!”

“To kill your boss.”

Sam reached for...he didn’t know. Something heavy? Something sharp? He settled on a vase. The woman simply looked at him.

“I don’t want to kill  _ you _ .”

Sam thought of his loyalty, his years of service. Of all the things he’d done for Mr Sherington.

He put the vase down.

“I killed at random. At first. But then I made a choice. My patron only wanted death, and there are those who deserve it. Like Albert Sherington. You know what he does. The pollution and poverty and misery, to keep his riches. And worse. Much worse. What have you provided for his personal parties, Sam?”

Sam sat down, memories of…

“I’m not a monster!”

“No? I am. Tell me. When Sherington dies, will you run to a new master? Some other man who wants terrible things done?”

He sat on the chair, silently.

“I thought as such. But I found a way of being...a better monster. Maybe you should try that too.”

“You’re still a murderer!”

“Yes. And I cannot always find those who deserve it. But such is the world. I can only try, within the limits of my station.”

Sam grabbed her. She was cold, so cold, and for all her short stature he couldn’t move her an inch.

“Why are you telling me this?!”

She smiled, and put a hand on his shoulder.

“I have thought myself inhuman for so long. I like to remind myself, sometimes.”

“Remind yourself of what?”

“That it is all too human, to serve monsters.”.

She looked up to the study.

“Are you going to you try and stop me, Sam?”

Sam thought one last time, and stepped aside.

“Good. Thank you, Sam. For the talk. I hope you select your next Patron more carefully. And if you need me to deal with them, just ask.”

She chuckled slightly and walked past him, upstairs into the mansion.

Sam sat. He could still call security. They could probably reach Sherington in time. They had weapons, after all.

And he could go back to sorting out Mr Sherington’s problems and indulgences for him.

Silently, he put the plastic case back over the button, and looked at the now-withered flowers as the screaming began.

  
  



End file.
